Author: ALJAZEERA

Hsinchu, Taiwan – A crane bird flies across a silent rice paddy, the water slowly trickling in the background. It is a tranquil and stereotypical image of an East-Asian countryside. Little seems to suggest I am just a few kilometres removed from one of the hearts of the global economy. This is Hsinchu, a small city close to Taipei in Taiwan. It is what you could literally call the Silicon Valley of the world. Just a few kilometres from the tranquil rice paddies, gargantuan buildings rise from the ground, air conditioning humming permanently over the bustle of traffic. These are…

Washington, DC-based lender says Cairo agreed to raise tax-to-revenue ratio and accelerate divestment of state-owned firms.The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that it has reached an agreement with Egypt to unlock about $1.2bn in funds to prop up the country’s troubled finances. The Washington, DC-based lender said on Tuesday that it reached the “staff-level agreement”, which is subject to approval by the Executive Board, after Cairo outlined steps to improve macroeconomic stability. Egyptian authorities agreed to raise the tax-to-revenue ratio by 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over the next two years and accelerate the divestment of state-owned…

Committee on Foreign Investment in the US fails to agree on national security risks of proposed takeover of US Steel.A decision on whether to allow Nippon Steel’s proposed takeover of US Steel has fallen to United States President Joe Biden after a government panel failed to agree on possible national security risks. The failure of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) to reach a consensus on the $15bn deal on Monday increases the likelihood that Biden will block the takeover in his final days in office. Biden voiced his opposition to the acquisition during his ill-fated re-election…

The year 2024 saw the global economy stabilise following the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, even as growth in many countries lagged pre-2020 levels. Amid a patchy recovery, more than 2 billion people were eligible to vote this year, and economic issues, particularly rising living costs, were a top concern for voters around the world. Meanwhile, governments grappled with how to regulate potentially transformational technology such as artificial intelligence, and Donald Trump’s victory in the United States’ presidential election heralded a sharp turn towards protectionism. Here are seven of the biggest events that shaped the global economy in 2024: Trump…

The United States is bracing for a government shutdown, as members of Congress race to negotiate a last-minute budget deal that would keep federal services funded through the new year. Early on Friday, US media reported that the Office of Management and Budget, under outgoing President Joe Biden, had already signalled that federal agencies should prepare to shutter. Government funding is set to expire just past midnight, on Saturday at 12:01am East Coast time (05:01 GMT). But at a midday press briefing on Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre offered a note of optimism, saying a government shutdown might…

Some members of the workers’ union representing more than 10,000 baristas at Starbucks in the United States have begun a five-day strike at stores in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, citing unresolved issues over wages, staffing and schedules. The strike, which started on Friday, is the latest in a series of labour actions in the US that have picked up pace across service industries following a period when workers of automotive, aerospace and rail manufacturers won substantial concessions from employers. The Starbucks Workers United Union, which represents employees at 525 stores across the US, said late on Thursday that walkouts…

Teamsters union says workers in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco to walk off the job over pay and conditions.Thousands of Amazon employees in the United States are set to go on strike during the busy Christmas period after union officials accused the retailer of refusing to enter negotiations for better pay and conditions. The Teamsters union said on Wednesday that warehouse workers would join the picket line in cities including New York, Atlanta and San Francisco from 6am Eastern Time (11:00 GMT) on Thursday in the largest strike against the company in US history. “If your package is delayed…

Bitcoin’s record rally topped $107,000 after United States President-elect Donald Trump reiterated that he plans to create a US Bitcoin strategic reserve similar to the country’s strategic oil reserve, stoking the enthusiasm of crypto bulls. Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, extended gains to a session high of $107,148 and was most recently at $106,877, up 5.43 percent from late Friday. The number two digital currency, Ethereum or Ether, was up 1.85 percent at $3,975.70. “We’re in blue sky territory here,” said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, an online trading provider. “The next figure the market will be…

Elon Musk’s claims about the risks of voter fraud in the United States presidential election prompted a flurry of concerned correspondence to election officials in a key swing state, newly released emails reveal. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s commentary on X prompted a Republican state senator and others in Pennsylvania, the most important battleground state with 19 Electoral College votes, to contact the top election official in one district to discuss concerns about overseas voting, according to the emails, which provide new insight into the billionaire’s behind-the-scenes effect on the vote. The office of Senator Chris Gebhard in October contacted…

While efforts to regulate the creation and use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the United States have been slow to make gains, the administration of President Joe Biden has attempted to outline how AI should be used by the federal government and how AI companies should ensure the safety and security of their tools. The incoming Trump administration, however, has a very different view on how to approach AI, and it could end up reversing some of the progress that has been made over the past several years. President Biden signed an executive order in October 2023 that was…